New Book Details The How And Where Of Photographing The National Parks Of The United States

Sidelight Books has announced the August 1, 2015, release of Photographing National Parks: A Guide for Scouting and Shooting America’s Most Cherished Lands (ISBN 978-0-983503-82-8), the second book by author and photographer Chris Nicholson.

“I’m so glad to see this book coming to print, because it’s been one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve ever worked on,” Nicholson says. “It brings together so many things I have loved since my childhood — the outdoors, traveling and photography. My parents brought me to my first national park when I was 1 year old, and whether for fun or work, I haven’t stopped traveling to the parks since.”

Photographing National Parks includes write-ups about all 59 national parks, and why and when a photographer may want to visit each. Every park profile includes location tips, such as where to find the nicest morning light on the shores of Acadia, the best groves in Redwood, the liveliest tide pools in Olympic, the most surreal landscapes in Lassen Volcanic, the most placid alpine lakes in Grand Teton, or the most accessible birds and alligators in Everglades.

“I want the reader to come away from the book with an appreciation for two important components of a successful national park shoot — time and research,” Nicholson says. “Photographers should allow plenty of time to explore and experiment, and they should also know about the place they’re photographing. Both are critical to doing your best work, and to fully enjoying the experience.”

Relevant for photographers of all levels — from casual camera-owner to hobbyist, from serious amateur to professional — Photographing National Parks also guides the reader through the best ways to research a park shoot, including where to find information about both iconic and obscure locations, along with seasonal and up-to-the-minute tips about various destinations. The book details best practices for safely and effectively conducting photography work in the different environments found in the national parks, including desert, mountain, coastline and forest. Nicholson also walks the reader through photography techniques that are useful in many park locations, such as photographing night skies, working in fog, or using stacking techniques to optimize image-making.

“The nature photographer in me cherishes the national parks for what they offer to anyone who loves the outdoors,” Nicholson says. “As a society, as a species, we have settled and changed so much about the earth. But the national parks preserve pockets of our world the way that everything once was — the way that nature would have been had people not civilized it.

“Even in my 40s, every time I visit a national park, as I approach the park boundaries I can feel a sense of excitement that I’m about to go someplace special, someplace that resonates with the core of who I am as a creature that inhabits this place, to the core of who we all are as components of nature.”

Photographing National Parks is a full-color, 232-page paperback with 70 photographs ($27.95), and will also be offered in electronic formats. Photographing National Parks is being distributed by Ingram Book Group, and will be available on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com, as well as through other online and traditional booksellers. Further information is available at www.PhotographingNationalParks.com.

ABOUT CHRIS NICHOLSON
Chris Nicholson, 43, is a photographer and writer based in the northeast U.S., and author of Photographing Tennis (2012, Sidelight Books). A former magazine editor for 10 years, Nicholson has worked independently since 2004, with his cameras focused primarily on the travel and sports genres. His work has appeared in several books and over 30 magazines, including Tennis, Golf Digest, Men’s Health, Wired and The New York Times.